This invention is directed to a wheeled toy and, particularly, to a wheeled toy which is manually manipulated by children for movement over a supporting surface, such as a floor, or the like, to engage objects on the support surface and propel the objects in various directions away from the toy during movement.
Toy vehicles have been a source of enjoyment for children for many years. Most toy vehicles, particularly wheeled vehicles, are designed for manual manipulation over a support surface, such as a floor, or the like, to simulate actual operation of the vehicle. In some instances, the toy is designed to be played with in conjunction with extraneous objects or materials, such as construction vehicles for moving or lifting sand or other objects during play. The present invention is directed to a wheeled toy which has an upper frame portion for manual grasping by a user to move the toy over a support surface and the toy has a lower impeller member in proximity to the support surface for striking objects thereon and propelling the objects outwardly in various directions away from the toy as it is moved over the support surface.
More particularly, in the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the wheeled toy includes a rounded inverted cup-shaped frame portion forming an upper crown of the toy for grasping by the user. The crown or frame portion has wheel means journalled on the underside thereof for rollingly supporting the frame portion for movement over the support surface generally in a straight line of travel. A polygonal shaped impeller member is mounted on the toy and protrudes outwardly from the lower marginal periphery of the crown in proximity to the support surface for engaging objects in the support surface as the toy is rolled thereover and the apexes of the polygonal shaped impeller propel the objects away from the toy. The wheel means includes a pair of side drive wheels operatively connected to the impeller for rotating the impeller about a generally vertical axis in response to rotation of the wheel means as the toy is rolled over the support surface. Front and rear wheels also are provided to facilitate the straight movement of the toy. A rod is fixed to the underside of the crown-shaped frame portion and protrudes downwardly thereof and terminates in a bearing block for journalling the drive wheels thereon, with the drive wheels extending below the impeller for engaging the support surface. The impeller itself is journalled on the rod beneath the crown-shaped frame portion and is connected through gearing to an axle for the drive wheels for conjoint rotation therewith.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.